
Book 'Nl^^l, 



CONTRIBUTIONS FROM 

THE MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN 

HEYE FOUNDATION 

Volume II, Number 4 



THE NANTICOKE COMMUNITY OF 
DELAWARE 



BY 

FRANK G. SPECK 



NEW YORK 

THE MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN 

HEYE FOUNDATION 

10 East Thirty-third Street 
1915 



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Tin: x.WTicnKi: ^()^I^I^XIT^' (W drlawark 

BY 

FRANK G. SPECK 
Contents 

PAGE 

Introduction i 

History 6 

Physical Character of the Region . . 9 

Agriculture and Food 'O 

Fishing and Hunting '5 

Other Industries -i 

Basketry - 1 

Dyes -5 

Miscellaneous 26 

Local Customs 27 

The Turkey Shoot . -7 

Wedding Serenade . -7 

Games 28 

Folklore 28 

Medicine Practices. . . 28 

Weather Signs 32 

Misct'llancous Signs, Omens, and Beliefs ■ 33 

Archeology and Local Tradition 36 

Tales 38 

Rabbit and Fox Raise a Crop . . 38 

Origin of Dead Wood 38 

The Wren Outwits the Eagle • 38 

The Wonderful Hunter . . 39 

A Terrapin for a Watch . 39 

The Three Questions 4° 

The Local Dialect of English . 40 

Appendix ... 43 

Introduction 

1AIJRING each winter and spring since 191 1 I have spent as 
y much time as was available in ethnologic work among the 
mixed-l)lood descendants of the Nanticoke Indians living 
in several communities in southern Delaware. Dr W. D. VVallis, 
at the instance of the University Museum, University of Penn- 

I 



CONTRieUTIONS FROM THE MU8C UM O^^E AMERICAN WDiAH 




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CAPTAIN JOHN ^^TH'I MAP Of IGINIA, 1607 



2 MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAS ISDLW 

sylvania, also had a share in thccomiiuiurnuiil of this investigation. 
These people, who occasionally ha\e luen reported in papers and 
journals,' form two hands, the nuclear hand living: in Indian River 
Hundred, Sussex county, the other, supposedly an olTshoot, residing 
at Cheswold, Kent county. The members of the bands together 
are roughly estiiuated to number about 700. These people form 
self -recognized conununities, with their own schools and churches, 
and possess a decidedly endogamous tendency which refuses par- 
ticularly to recognize marriage with negroes. They style them- 
selves variously " Nanticokes," "Moors," and "Indians," This 
feeling of local sechisivcncss is a marked trait among these people 
and was noted by Babcock who visited the tribe in 1899 and wrote 
a short but interesting account of what he saw.- 

Physically the community exhibits a great lack of racial homo- 
geneity, the types of physiognomy, color, and hair ranging from 
the European, the mulatto, and the Indian through all the usual 
gradations. Some individuals have straight hair, fair skin, and 
blue eyes; some have brown skin and kinky or curly hair; others have 
broad faces and straight, black hair, the color and general appear- 
ance of Indians. It is common to find these characteristics divided 
irregularly among the members of the same family. 

An interesting tradition current among the members of the 
band is that they are descended from a crew of Moorish sailors who 

> See James Mooncy. "Siouan Tribes of the East," Bullelin 22, Bureau of Ameri- 
can Ethnology, pp. 12, 51, 80, Washington, 1895. Mooney, "The Powhatan Con- 
federacy, Past and Present," American Anthropologist, 1907, vol. ix, pp. 129-152. 
Encyclopsedia Britannica, Eleventh ed. (1910-11), p. 948. article "Delaware." "In 
Indian River Hundred there lived a community of people — many of whom are of the 
fair Caucasian type — called 'Indians' or 'Moors': they are now quite generally dis- 
persed throughout the State, especially in Kent and Sussex counties. Their origin is 
unknown, but according to local tradition they are the descendants of some Moorish 
sailors who were cast ashore many years ago in a shipwreck; their own tradition is 
that they are descended from an Irish mother and a negro father, these children having 
intermarried with Indians of the Nanticoke tribe. They have where practicable 
separate churches and schools, the latter receiving state aid." Brinton, The Lendpi 
and their Legends, p. 22-25, Phila., 1885, gives a review of Nanticoke history and 
some notes on their ethnology. 

'William H. Babcock, "The Nanticoke Indians of Indian River, Delaware," 
American Anthropologist, n. s., 1899, vol. I, pp. 277-282. The author does not give 
any elhnol<jgical information, but he describes the appearance of the people. 



CONTR. MU8. AMCR. INDIAN 



VOL. II, NO. 4, PL. II 




NANTICOKE TYPES 
(the uppeb portraits are full-face and profile of the same boy) 



SPECK— N ANT ICOKE COM MLS IT Y OF DELAWARE 3 

were shiinvrt'ckrd near Indian Ri\ir inlet, escaped U) tlie shore, 
and intermarried witli tin- Indians who were h\in^ there. This 
story is well known in the region and is repeated with several 
variations. One states that on hoard the wrecked vessel was an 
Irish princess; another claims that the vessel was owned by a 
Moorish prince; another that the Moors were pirates from the 
Spanish main , and to this they attribute their local name of " Moors." 
As important as this story seems to be, I was unable to secure any 
consecutive version worth recording as testimony in the words of 
the narrator. Those who know of it gi\e only the general facts as 
mentioned above. A few discredit the story altogether. On the 
whole, however, I am inclined to credit the general claim that 
Moorish sailors might have been shipwrecked on the treacherous 
shoals off the southern Delaware coast and come ashore to the 
shelter of the Indian natives. When this might have happened it 
is difficult to say, unless we assume that it was during the years of 
piracy on the high seas in the seventeenth and the early part of the 
eighteenth centur>' (1650-1720 approximately). The importance 
of the term "Moors" in connection with the pirates of the West 
Indies suggests relationship in this case. (See Appendix.) 

As may be observed in the portraits accompanying this paper (pi. 
Il-xi) the appearance of e\en the most negroid of these people is quite 
(lifTerent from that of the common Southern negro type. They are 
much more refined in appearance, with thinner lips and narrower 
noses. Heckewelder^ says that the Nanticoke were distinguished 
from neighboring tribes by a darker color. Writing at this date, 
if we assume the story of the Moorish admixture to have some 
foundation in truth, one does not have to seek far for an explanation 
of the dark complexion of the Nanticoke.- It would seem that the 
tribe bore evidence of an African admixture before leaving Mary- 
land, which would be before 1748, at the latest. The "Moor" 

'J. G. E. Hcckewcldcr. An Account of the History, Manners and Customs of the 
Indian Natives who once Inhabited Pennsylvania and the Neighboring States, Phila., 
1819. 

* The Canadian Nanticoke are still conscious of their reputation among the 
Iroquois for having a dark complexion. In addition, at the (".rand River reserve they 
are humorously accused of having large feet. 



4 MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN IXDIAW 

ston' would tlu'ii diitc from about 1700. wliicli is iiiflccd the most 
likely period for it. 

Another question in this connection is, How far niii,du nortlurn 
African intluence have survived in industry' and folklore? Family 
names hetra>' only Enjjlish origins, with one exception: that of 
"Bnmhery" may indeed jjossihly be a corruption of Barbary} 
African influence, however, is shown most conclusively by the fact 
that a list of Nanlicoke numerals (i to 10) recorded by Pyrla*us, a 
missionaPk' to the Mohawk in 1780, proved, through the investi- 
gations of Dr Brinton,- to be Mandingo or a closely related West 
African language. 

Although the Moors or Nanticoke were included with the 
"colored people" during slave days, none of them were ever held 
as slaves. They claimed the right to carry firearms, and in the 
local court forty or fifty years ago one of tiuir number won a 
case, arising from the ownership of firearms, by proving himself to 
be a "native Indian without a drop of slave blood in his veins." In 
recent years, as the outcome of an effort led by one of the band, 
Mr W. I\. (lark, the Nanticoke have secured legal recognition at 
the Delaware State capital as Indians and exemption from regula- 
tions applying to negroes. 

Reverting again for a nionient to the (juestion of Knglish 
ancestr\', we find that the band speaks a dialect of English distinct 
from that spoken in other parts of Delaware and Mar^-land. In 
another part of this paper I have noted some phonetic peculiarities 
and words and expressions peculiar to the community, which with 
tracing the famiU- names'^ may some time afTord a clue respecting its 

' The same family name (Boiinherri), strange to say, is found among the Cana- 
dian Cayuga. The Cayuga are said to have adopted the Nanticoke in 1753. It is 
just as likely, however, that the name is from Vambery. 

» Cf. American Antiquarian, 1887, vol. IX, p. 352. 

' The names of families of the Nanticoke community in Sussex county are here 
given. They comprise a majority of the inhabitants of the district known as Indian 
River Hundred, from near Millsboro eastward along the northern shore of Indian river 
to near Lewes, and northward nearly to Georgetown. These names are: Rogers, Jack- 
son. Wright, Thom|)son (part negro), Harmon. Street, Nor\voocI, Coursey, Morris, 
Clark, Johnson, Drain, Moseley, Sockume, Burton, Davis, Bumberry, Layton, Miller, 
Thomas, Cormeans, Hanzier. They have the peculiarity of calling the children by 
the parents' names, as Levin's Isaac, Noah's Jim, Eliza .Ann's Jane, etc. 



COMTR. MU8. AMCR. INDIAN 



VOL. II, NO. 4, PL. Ill 




NANTICOKE TYPES 
(THE UPPER TWO AND THE LOWER LEFT-HAND BOV8 ARE BROTHERS) 



SPECK— NANTICOKE COMMUNITY OF DELAWARE 5 

derivation. A comparison of iIicsl- wilh the family names and 
dialectic peculiarities of the so-called Croatan settlement in North 
Carolina is interesting, because tin- latter are in a somewhat similar 
position, being reputed descendants (with little basis of fact, how- 
ever) of colonists from southern England, conducted to America by 
Sir Walter Raleigh (1587), who became merged with the natives 
of the coast. In comparing the Ncrnacular and family names of 
both communities we find no correspondences.' 

Finally, in discussing the origin of the Nanticoke conununity 
we should not overlook the fact that one at least of the older men, 
Lemuel Sockume, claims that their Indian ancestors were Cherokee. 
I do not know how to coordinate this assertion with the known 
facts of the case, unless it be that Cherokee at some time joined 
the Nanticoke band and left descendants there. Some of them 
claim also a trace of French blood.' 

Unfortunately nothing of the Nanticoke language remains, 
not even a trace. 

Part of my task among these people was the gathering of 
ethnological specimens. Accordingly a collection of about one 
hundred objects of industry' were obtained from the older families, 
illustrating life in past generations. This collection is now in 
possession of the Museum of the .American Indian in New York, in 
whose interest the latter part of the investigation was conducted. 
The illustrations of objects in this paper are from drawings of the 
originals in that Museum. 

Considering the value that the following fragments of material 
life and folklore may have, either from the point of view of survivals 
of Indian culture or as possible secondary independent folk develop- 
ments, I shall include a few introductory historical references. 

' An interesting study of ttu- Croatans of North Carolina has been made l)y H. 
McMillan. Sir Walter RaUiRh's Lost Colony. Raleinh, N. C, 1907. pp. 35-36. Cf. 
also N'. E. Fitch. "The F"irst Founders in .America, with Facts to Prove that Sir 
Walter Raleigh's Lost Colony was not Lost," .V. Y. Society of the Order of the Founders 
and Patriots of America. 1913, p. 39. Incidentally these authors both refer to the 
use of the wooden crossbow, an article borrowed from the early explorers and found 
among the .Mgonkin trilK-s as far as the Montagnais of Labrador. 

'The family name ot Hanzier (pronounced HS'nzer) is said to be of French 
origin. Mrs Bumbcry says tliat her grandmother, who was a llan/ier, could speak 
French. 



6 MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN IXDIAX 

History 

Thr Xaiitio)ki' Iiidi.uis of southern Drl.iwarc wvrc first en- 
couiitiifd ill i(k)8 by Captain John Smith.' They thin occupied 
the peninsula between the Athmtic ocean and Chesapeake bay. 
Smith spoke of them in the following terms: 

"We set saile for the maine; and fel witii a faire river on the 
East called Kuskarawaocke. \W it inhabit the people of Sora- 
phanij;h, Nause, Arsek, and Nautaquake, th.it much extolled a 
great nation called Massawomekes . . .""- 

"On the east side of the Bay, is the river Tockwhogh, and upon 
it a people that can make too men, seated some seaven myles 
within the river: where they have a Fort very well pallisadoed and 
mantelled with barkes of trees. Next them is Ozinies with 60 men. 
More to the South of that East side of the Bay, the river Rapa- 
hanock, neere mi to which is the ri\er Kuskarawaock. Upon which 
is seated a people with 200 men. After that, is the river Tants 
Wighcocomoco, and on it a people with 100 men. The people of 
these rivers are of little stature, of another language from the rest 
(referring to the Powhatans], and very rude. But they are on the 
river Acohanock with 40 men, and they of Accomack 80 men doth 
equalize any of the Territories of Powhatan, and speake his language ; 
who over all those doth rule as King."^ 

To bring these related matters together as much as possible, 
John Smith's map is here reproduced (pi. i). 

Subsequently the Nanticoke are heard of through their con- 
nection with the related tribes along the Susquehanna and on the 
western shore of Chesapeake bay. References bearing cxclusixely 
on the Indians who remained on the eastern shore are scanty and 
convey little information concerning their mode of life. From 
1641 to 1648 they were at war with the colonists. By 1748 most 
of the Nanticoke and Conoy of Mar>'land had nio\e(l up the 
Susquehanna to the Iroquois, with whom they gradiialU- became 
aDiliated. By 1799 the Nanticoke had sold all their land in IMary- 

' Captain John Smith's Works (1608- 163 1). English Scholar's Library, edited by 
Edward Arlicr, Birmingham, England, 1884. 
* Ibid., p. III. 
' Ibid., p. 351. (1607-09.) 



COMTR. MUS. AMCR. INOIAM 



VOL. II, NO. 4, PL. IV 




NANTICOKE TYPES 
<TM£ UPPER TWO ARE FULL-FACE AND PROFILE PORTRAITS OF THE SAME MAN) 



SPECK— X.WTICOKE COMMCMTY OF DELAWARE "J 

land. Since it is not the intention in this paper to deal with the 
hands of the western shore,' nor with the N'antiroke in general after 
their adoption by the Iroquois in 175.^. we sh.ill have to leave the 
historical documents and depend on local traditions of the people 
of the region. - 

The last authentic reference, however, to the Xanticoke in 
their old haunts, and the one to which we are indebted for knowledge 
of the language, is that by William Vans Murray, who in 1792 
sent a few ethnological notes and a vocabulary collected at the 
Nanticoke village of Locust Neck Town, Goose creek, Choctank 
river, Dorchester county, Maryland, at the instance of Thomas 
JefTcrson.-^ In a letter accompanying the vocabulary he wrote 
that the tribe had dwindled to nine persons. They lived in "four 
genuine old wig\vams thatched over with the bark of the cedar." 
They were governed by a "queen," Mrs Mulberry. The rest had 
removed "to the Six Nations .... They went to the Senecas 
often." A note to the vocabulary adds that Wyniaco, their last 

• The inhabitants of the Maryland shore probably formed a separate band of the 
Nanticoke, differing in some details from those of the eastern shore. An alliance 
existed between them as late as 1660. according to Colonial records. Since the Cana- 
dian Nanticoke came mostly from Maryland proper, they should be classed as a separ- 
ate band, or at least as one comprising several dialects. One of these, if not the pre- 
dominating one, was the Conoy or Kanawha, judging by a comparison of the older 
Nanticoke material with a vocabulary from the present Canadian division of the tribe, 
and also from a tribal synonym by which the latter are known as Ganiiwagohono 
(Cayuga), "swamp people" (Kanawha). 

' During the winter of 1914 I visited the Nanticoke incor]X)rated with the Six 
Nations of Iroquois at Ohswcken, Ontario, where several hundred descendants still 
retain their identity as a lx)dy in the League. The ethnological results of this trip, 
with a Nanticoke vocabulary', are being prepared for a special paper on the emigrant 
portion of the tribe. The Nanticoke in Ontario were greatly interested in learning 
through me of their kinsmen in Delaware, of whom they had heard occasionally. 
Some family names are common to both bands. The last actual contact between 
them, according to the memory of the Canadian Nanticoke, was in the middle of the 
last century-, when several families from the South, presumably from Delaware, were 
refused admission into the Canadian band on account of their dark complexion. The 
name of one of these families was Burton, according to menujry, which incidentally 
corresiwnds with a common family name of those still in Delaware. In 1857 the 
Canadian Nanticoke sent a chief (Cornelius Anderson) and two delegates to Maryland 
to look up survivors, but they found none there. 

• D. G. Brinton, "A N'ocabulary of the Nanticoke Dialect," Proceedings of the 
American Philosophical Society, vol. xxxi, 1893, pp. 325-333. 



8 Musi:i .\f OF rni-: .wiericas ixpiax 

"kinj^," li.ul (lutl .ilxtiil 75 or So years before and that liis body was 
kept prcscrvetl in a iiiortiiar\' house. The eiistotn of preser\ing 
the bones of the dead was early recorded of the Xanticoke. The 
names of two Nanticoke villages are given in this notice, "Ama 
namo qiimi, thi- name of the Indian town of Locust Neck. Maltap- 
petien, the name of the Nanticoke IntHan town." Reverley ' in 
1722 mentioned thi' [)rincipal \illage of tlie tribe as Xanduge, with 
100 inhabitants, ruled by an "empress."^ 

Regarding tribal i(Kntit\' and history, a few interesting frag- 
ments of tradition siir\i\e among the people. The Xanticoke 
are said to have inhal)itcd the coast and inlets no farther north 
than Indian river. Inland, however, they ranged westward across 
Chesapeake bay. Evidently the present remaining descendants 
of the tribe at Indian river were the nucleus of those who stayed 
in Delaware after the general lireak-up of national life, before 1748. 
The coimtry north of the Indian Ri\cr district, according to 
surviving tradition, was neutral ground between the Nanticoke 
and the Delawares proper, who, the former assert, were not always 
on the best of terms with the Xanticoke of Indian river. This 
would make the ancestry' of the Cheswold branch of the Indian 
remnant in Delaware not fundamentally Xanticoke, but Delaware. 
Of course it should be remembered that intermarriage and removals 
have been frequent between the two bands, so that now, to all 
intents, they are practically the same, difTcring only in the degree 
of white and negro intermixture. According to Mr Clark's testi- 
mony, early in the last century many families emigrated from 
Indian river to the west, for the purpose of joining some tribes nearer, 
or across, the Alleghanies. This probably refers to the general In- 
dian emigration from the coast to the adjacent slope, during the 
middle of the eighteenth century, with the Delawares and others. 

Subsequent to this movement representatives from the departed 
band occasionally returned to Indian ri\cr to \ isit their friends and 
relatives; particularly to \isit old Mrs L\tlia Clark, the grand- 

^ History of Virginin, 2(1 cd., London, 1722. I'os-il)l\- uamoi'wan, "fish catch- 
ing," and, nad&pcnan, " landing place." 

'Among the Canadian Nanticoke the term "emperor," denoting head-chief, is 
still in use. 



COMTR. MU8 AMin INDIAN 



VOL. II, NO. 4, PL. V 




NANTICOKE TYPES 
(tut OPPCR TWO ARC PORTRAITS OF THE SAME MAN. THE LOWER LEFTMANO PORTRAIT IS THAT OF HIS SOn) 



SPECK—.SASTlCOKf: C<)M.\n XITV OF DEI.WVARl. 9 

motluT of our thief informant . Mr W. R. (Mark, who was then the 
only person who spoke the Nanticoke lanK^iaj^je and wlio wore in part 
the native costume. After her death, i)rol)al)ly between 1840 
and 1850, these Indians did not come again, and the Indian River 
remnant was left without communication with its kin. Again, 
however, a number of famihes emigrated from Indian river.' 

These seem to have been the last important events in the history 
of the community, excepting the occasion of a church quarrel over the 
admission of negroes to church and school pri\ileges, which resulted 
in the diNision of the band into two factions. The original exclusive 
party is still known as the Indian Ki\er or Warwick Indian com- 
munity, the seceders, who admit social rights to outsiders, calling 
themselves the Harmonia people. These later distinctions, how- 
ever, are of minor importance. 

Physical Ch.aracter of the Region 

A few words concerning the physical character of the Nanticoke 
country will not be out of place. The surface is extremely flat; 
the land a sandy bottom without stones, a fact that becomes im- 
portant when it is remembered that all the stones (steatite, jasper, 
cjuartz, chert, etc.) used in making implements by the original 
natives had to be imported from the western shore of Chesapeake 
bay or overland from north of Dover. The geographical features of 
the section are characteristic of the Atlantic coastal plain to which 
it belongs, not differing noticeably from the Carolina coast. 

Tall, colunuiar, yellow pines and spruce pines form the forest 
growth that still covers much of the Indian Ri\er countr\', but this 
is interspersed with oak, sassafras, holly, maple, cedar, dogwood, 
and smaller trees. In spring the white dog\vood blossoms show 
brightly through the dark pines, but give place to the dr>'er grcen- 

' About 1855 some fifty members of the Sockume. Miller, and Norwood families 
moved to San Francisco. California, where their descendants still live. In 1865 
meml>er3 of the Johnson and Harmon families moved to Blackwood Town. New 
Jersey. For many years there were Nanticoke colonies in Gloucester. New Jersey, 
and Philadelphia. In 1870 about fourteen Clarks. Millers, and Johnsons moved from 
(ilouccstcr to near Detroit. Michigan, and in 1887 si.x of the Thomas family moved 
from Philadelphia to Nova Scotia. 



lO MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN 

ness of iiiidsumnur. The UaNcs f.ill late in October or early in 
November. More or less continued cold weather comes by Decem- 
ber and lasts throuj^h February, durinj^ which snow is common, 
though not remaininjj on the ground for more than a day or two 
at a tiine. I'rosl dois not penetrate deeper than a fiw inches, and 
dois not remain more than a few weeks. Seasons during which 
Indian ri\er freezes over for more than a few days at a lime are 
rare. The summers, as might be expected in this locality, are 
hot and humid. Mosquitoes are very troublesome and cause 
considerable ague, as one might suspect from the iuiml)er of herb 
cures for this malad>' lo be listed later. 

AcRICULTURIi AND FOOD 

In the present-day life of the community no industry shows 
more surviving native characteristics than that pertaining to corn. 
Of the four \aricties of nati\e corn raised, two of them, the white 
and the yellow, are early; the others, namely, "sheepshank," or 
flint, and popcorn, are late. Incidentally the same varieties were 
recorded among the \'irginia Indians by Robert Beverley in 1722.^ 
The "sheepshank" is planted late nowadays, mostly in rather poor 
or waste ground. After the sandy fields have been plowed, sowing 
begins, about May 10 to 15. Some superstitions are observed in 
the planting: for instance, corn should not be sown while the wind 
is from the east ; it should be sown before noon, and when the " moon 
is filling," that is, when it is on the increase. Also in regard to agri- 
culture, we learn that potatoes and wheat must be planted in the 
light of the moon, and tomatoes should not be planted while the 
wind is easterly. Furthermore, watermelon-seed should be sown 
before sunrise on May 12. 

Returning to the cultivation of corn, we encounter an interesting 
implement known locally as a "suckerin' cane," used during the 
early season. This is a crooked stick of oak with a natufal bend 
forming a grip, the whole a\craging 22 to 26 inches in length 
(tig. i). This implement is employed by the men, who go through 

' See Wilioughby, "The \'irginia Indians in the Seventeenth Century," American 
Anthropologisl. N. s., 1907, vul. 9, no. i, ([uotinK Beverley, History of Virginia, 2d ed., 
1722. p. 18. 



COMTN. MUS. AMCN. INOlAM 



VOL. II, NO. 4, PL. V« 




NANTICOKE TYPES 



\ 



SPECKS ANTICOKE COMMUNITY OF DELAWARE 



I I 



the fic-lcls pulling; out tlic surplus sprouts in the corn-hills. They 
rest their weight upon it like a cane, when they bend over and pull 
out a sprout. The sharp end is used also to poke holes in the 
hills where other ^r.iins of corn are needed to be planted. This 
is manifestly the old planting-stick surviving in serious use. 




Fig. I. — " Suckering " canes. 

The next operation deserving notice is the "topping" and 
"stripping" which take place when the kernels have formed 
sufficiently and the milk will not run when, as a test, the kernel is cut 
with the finger-nail. The topping consists in cutting off the stalk 
above the uppermost ear, while stripping refers to cutting off all 





Fig. 2. — Corn-husking pegs. 

the leaves. This practice is an old one among the farmers through- 
out southern Delaware, and locally is attributed to the Indians. 
The tops and leaves are used as fodder for stock in this region, 
where little or no grass for hay grows. When the corn is to be 
harvested, the men enter the fields and husk the ears, throwing 
them into heaps, which are then gathered in large baskets by 



12 MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN 

children and helpers. A husking-peg of hard oak, five to six 
inches long (fig. 2), with a leather finger-loop, is used. This article 
is practically the same as that found among the Iroquois, Pamun- 
key, Mohegan, and other Southern tribal remnants. Finally the corn 
crop is stored in the large characteristic corn-cribs, made of logs 
(pi. xv), which may possibly preserve some aboriginal constructional 
features, since the entire corn industry is derived from the Indians, 
and many of the implements used with it have survived in one form 
or another. 

In the first stage of the preparation of the corn for use, an 
interesting device for shelling the corn from the cob is found. 
This consists of a large, hollow log from a gum tree, 29 in. high 
and 27 in. wide, with walls i| in. thick. Its widest part is upper- 
most, with a row of eleven wooden bars, i| in. thick, reaching 
across the cavity like a grating, a foot from the ground or lower 
edge. The husked ears of corn are put in the upper cavity and 
beaten with a pestle made by fastening an iron wedge into a notched 
staff. The loosened kernels fall through the grating into the 
lower compartment, from which they are shoveled out through the 
aperture. One of these old corn-shellers is shown in operation in 
plate XVI. This apparatus is known to have been used by the 
Nanticoke from the time of their earliest remembrance. One 
wonders if it is a strictly aboriginal invention, since nothing like it 
has been reported elsewhere on the continent. The natives, of 
course, in preparing small quantities, sometimes shell the corn by 
grating it with another cob. 

Next the usual corn mortar and pestle are used to pound the 
corn into grits or flour. The mortars of the Nanticoke are evi- 
dently of native origin. Nearly every family possesses one. They 
are all of one type (pi. xxi), tapering toward the base. The hominy 
mortar is made of gum-wood. The outer surface is shaped with 
an axe; the cavity is made by drilling a deep hole into the top of 
the log and putting fire therein, which is replenished until it has 
burned near enough to the edge. The pestle is the same as the 
one above described. The kernels of corn are pounded to grits in 
the mortar, the chaff and hulls being separated by scooping up the 



CONTR. MUS. AMCn. INDIAN 



VOL. II, NO. 4, PL. VII 




NANTICOKE TYPES 
(the lower two are full- face and profile portraits of the same woman) 



SPECK—S'AS'TICOKE COMSfUSITY OF DIILAUARE 



U 



grits ill a basket and pouring them apain into the mortar from 
above, or from one basket to another, allowing the wind to blow 
the waste away. Sieves seem to have been unknown. By re- 
peating the pountiing and pouring operation, the corn is ground 
and cleaned until fit to be used as hominy or for bread. Smaller 
mortars of the same shape, though some straight-sided ones are 
found, are employed for pounding coffee and medicinal plants 
(pi. xxi). In shape these mortars arc unlike the plainer ones of 
the Southern tribes, and they are not found in use among the whites. 
Some have ca\ities in the bottom for cracking hickory-nuts. 

Following are tiie dimensions (in inches) of Nanticoke wooden 
mortars in the Museum of the American Indian: 



Matbkial 


Hbicht 


Width at 

Top 


Narrowhst 
Part 


Base 


Depth of 
Cavitv 


Thickness 
OF Wall 
at Rim 


Gum 


29 

32 

14 
17 

12 

33 
34 


12 
I6 

7J 

7 

6 
13 

12 


7 
8 

4 
4J 

2 

4i 
6i 


llj 

isi 

7 

7i 

6 
13 
II 


1 '5 

12 

! 8i 
4 
6 

12 

18 


l\ 


Gum 

Gum 






I 


( i u m 


1 


Gum 


I 




li 







The stirring paddles used by the Nanticoke when making mush 
or pone arc of two general sizes. The longer ones (fig. 3) are 28 




^:=53 



— a 



Fig. 3. — Large stirring paddles. 



to 30 in. long, with blades i^ in. wide, and are made of white oak 
or of yellow pine. The smaller paddles are from 17 to 19 in. long 
(fig. 4) and are much used nowadays in making butter. Although 
the stirring paddles arc extremely plain, tlu- nearest people whose 



H 



MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN 



paddles they resemble, excepting the remnant of the Powhatan 
Indians of Virginia, are the Cherokee of North Carolina, whose 
paddles are identical. 




Fig. 4. — Small stirring paddles. 

A large, cumbersome, spoon-Hke ladle, e\Tidently of cypress 
(fig- 5). was also used for stirring food in a cauldron. An individual 
spoon obtained from a Nanticoke near the ocean at Lewes, is 
made of red oak, with a bowl 3 in. wide and a handle 10 in. long. 
It was used for eating corn and beans. 




Fig. 5. — Wooden ladles for stirring. 

Some old-fashioned foods of Indian origin have survived. 
Among these is found the "ash cake"— a disc of corn dough, six 
inches or so in width, wrapped in large, damp leaves and placed in 
the ashes of a dying fire. Another food is "johnny-cake" (journey 
cake), made of corn flour and water mixed to dough and spread 
upon an oak board which is then tilted obliquely on its side before 
an open fire until the cake is browned. A very old "johnny-cake" 
board, 18 in. long, 4 in. wide, and f in. thick, is shown in figure 6. 



CONTR. MU9. AMIR. INDIAN 



VOL. II. NO. 4, PL. VIII 




NANTICOKE TYPES 

(the UPfER TWJ ARE POBTRAITS OF THE SAME WOMAN) 



SPECK— NANTICOKE COMMUSITY OF DELAWARE I 5 

Johnny-cake was the staple of these Indians in former times, and 
with roasted or hoilrd meat and fish constituted the chief diet. 

"Pone,"' the next important food, consists of corn-meal salted 
to taste, mixed with water, placed in a vessel, and cooked in an 
oven over nijjht. This makes a nourishing but rather heaNy loaf, 
which is vcr\' popular when eaten with cane molasses. 




Fig. 6. — Johnny-cake board. 

According to another native recipe meat is mixed with hominy 
and boiled in the form of a stew. The meat of all kinds of wild 
game is stewctl or fried. Muskrats are made into a stew, as are 
also raccoons and opossums. 

Fishing and Hunting 

Indian river abounds in fine, edible fish, many of which come 
in as they enter Delaware bay to ascend to their spawning waters. 
Among the chief fish are shad, herring, drum, perch, and latterly 
carp. Fishing, indeed, forms one of the leading activities of the 
Nanticoke, and is followed as a business by some of them. Among 
the devices for taking fish, some are probably of aboriginal origin 
while others have been modified by modern usage. 

The Xanticokc use the eel-pot, so characteristic of all the tribes 
south of the St Lawrence along the Atlantic coast, making it of 
pine and of oak splints from half an inch to an inch wide in the 
simple twill weave, with an indented bottom to serve as an entrance, 
the inward projecting standards preventing eels or other fish, 
having once entered, from passing out again. The eel-pots are 
between 18 and 26 in. in length, about 9 in. wide at the bottom, 
and 5 in. at the top. Several specimens of pine and of oak 
splints are shown in plate xix. The opening at the top is here 

•This term is probably derived from old Nanticoke a'pa'n, "bread" (Canadian 
dialect). 



i6 



MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN 



generally closed with a wooden plug. The eel-pot is sunk with 
stones on the bottom along the shore, or is put at the mouth of a 
fyke, to be described later. 

Fish-nets are found in nearly every family of the tribe living 
within a mile or so of the river. They are now made of the cord of 



',' 



I / 



nl 




Fig. 7. — Netting-needles. The first two examples are for making herring nets, 
the others for making nets for sturgeon, drum, and shad. 

commerce. The netting-needles and mesh-sticks are of the form 
shown in figure 7. The needles range from 6 to 9 in. in length, 
and from ^ to i in. in width. They are all of oak, with the tongue 
from I to 2 in. long. The mesh-blocks, of oak or pine (fig. 8), 



COMTM. MU*. AMCN. INDIAN 



VOL. II, NO. 4, PL. IX 




NANTICOKE TYPES 



(ruLL-r*ce» AND pnoriLCS. the upper portraits are those of the oranooaughter of the woman illus- 
trated AT the top of plate VIII) 



SPECKS ANTICOKE COMhtUSITY OF DELAWARE 



17 




range from i in. to 3 in. wide, and are generally 3^ to 4 inches 
long and \ inch thick. The smaller blocks are for perch and herring 
nets, and the larger for carj), shad, dniin, and the like. The net- 
knot, or becket, is made by taking a turn of the cord under the 
mesh-block and up to the top side where it is held fast by the 
thumb pressing the block; then a loop is thrown to the left, the 
needle passed through the 
mesh-opening just above, en- 
closing the cords, and the 
knot drawn taut. 

It should be noted that 
the netting-needles made by 
the Nanticoke, strange as it 
may seem, differ in one re- 
spect from those made by the 
neighboring white and black 
people. Among the latter, 
the open space and tongue 
of the needle are somewhat 
longer. Thisdiflference I have 
tested by observing a number 
of specimens both from whites 
antl negroes in southern Dela- 
ware. Incidentally, the shape 
and proportions of the Nanti- 
coke needles are practically 
identical with those observed 

among the northern Atlantic pic. 8.— Measuring blocks for making nets. 

and Canadian Algonkin. 

The nets are used for dragging across the channel of the ri\cr, 
as set or gill nets, and for fykes. A party of Nanticoke take one 
of the nets in a boat and row across Indian river at one of its nar- 
rower points, having left a man on shore with a long rope attached 
to the net. They then put the net in the water and row back to the 
shore whence they started. Next the man left on shore below, and 
those pulling farther along, gradualK- haul the net, like a narrowing 




i8 



MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN 



bag, until it is drawn out upon a sandy beach between the two 
parties, where all the fish that have been drawn into it are secured. 
Plate XVIII shows a party engaged in seining herring by this method 
in April, 1912. 

For fishing in the river a fyke is commonly employed. This is 
made on the same plan as the basketwork eel- trap, the fish entering 
a funnel-shaped enclosure of network, and being prevented from 
getting out by the difficulty of finding their way between the strings 
which they passed in entering. The fyke generally has three hoops 

of wood which form the 
tapering enclosure, and two 
wings of net, branching out 
on each side, with a long 
central line of net running 
from the mouth of the fyke 
to the shore. The fykes 
vary in size. The smaller 
have hoops 29 to 32 in. in 
diameter, an enclosure not 
more than 6 or 8 ft. long, 
with wings about 15 ft. in 
length. The larger fykes 
have hoops 5 or 6 ft. in 
diameter, an enclosure of 
10 to 15 ft., with other 
dimensions in proportion. 
The floats and sinkers for 
the wings and runner of the fyke are the same as for the draw-nets. 
Figure 9 shows how the fyke is set facing the shore, with its wings 
and runner to guide the fish, which move along close to the shore, 
up or down stream, into the enclosure. 

The fyke and its runners are held in place by poles driven into 
the sand of the river. The arrows indicate the direction in which 
the fish swim; a shows the rear opening of the fyke, which is 
closed by tying, the fishermen going out, in boats, with open- 
bottom baskets, lifting up and opening the fyke, and transferring 




Fig. 9. 



-Fyke set along shore, looking 
downward. 



conth. mus. amcr. inoian 



VOL. II, NO. 4, PL. X 





NANTICOKE CHILDREN 



SPECK— \AXTICOKE COMStUSITY OF DliLAWAKE 



19 



the captured fish t(i the baskets; b 
is the laperiiij; entrance, c, c the 
wings, and d the runner. The dis- 
tance from the shore varies. Fykes 
of heavier netting arc used for 
terrapins, the colUition in the 
Museum of the Aincricm Inchan 
containing a terrapin fyke 8 ft. 
lon^;, of lieavy cord with an inch 
mesh. I he lower left-hand figure 
of plate xviii shows a scene along 
Indian river in February, 1912. 
with a fyke, indicatefl by the poles, 
frozen beneath tlu- ir*'. 

From one of the old men of 
this community I obtained a fish- 
hook with artificial bait and hand- 
line which he had made for himself 
so cleverly that it seems worthy of 
treatment as a product of native 
ingenuity. The whole device, ex- 
cept the hook itself, is of home 
make (fig. 10). From a piece of 
flat bone he has whittled the sem- 
blance of a small bait fish. A wire 
leader connects this, the hook, and 
the line. The float is of pine, 
plummet-shaped, and the line is 
wound on a corncob reel. This 
device the maker was using with 
great success in fishing for carp. 
He claimed to have thought of this 
arrangement by himself, the blind 
cupidity of the fish when hungry 
having suggested the artificial bait. 

As adjuncts to the nets, there ^'f- 10.— Fish-hook with artificial bait. 




20 



MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN 



are wooden floats made of pine, in the several shapes illustrated 
(fig. II, a, c), from 2 to 5 in. long and 2 in. wide. Stones are used 
for sinkers whenever they can be obtained in this sandy region ; 
otherwise small bags of sand are ingeniously substituted. For 
hand-line fishing the floats are neater and somewhat pear-shaped 
(fig. 11,6). 

While agriculture and fishing were so prominent in the life of 
the Nanticoke, hunting seems to have been a minor activity in 

later years at least. In the 
extensive cypress swamp west 
of Millsboro, at the head of 
Indian river, game of various 
kinds was formerly abundant. 
Bears, deer (until about 25 
years ago), raccoons, opos- 
sums, rabbits, quail, and squir- 
rels were hunted. Strangely 
enough, though probably from climatic causes, the woodchuck and 
the partridge (Bonasa umhellus) are missing from this locality. The 
only vestiges of native hunting devices are the degenerated bows and 





Fig. II. — Net floats. 



Fig. 12. — Paddle for fishing boat. 



arrows, and two or three kinds of snares. The bows and arrows 
are now only rarely found among the boys, who use them in their 
play or for chasing rabbits and squirrels. In the memory of some 




Fic;. 13. — Bows. 

of the older men, however, they were regularly carried by children 
who went hunting in the woods with their fathers, who of course 



SPECK— SASTICOKE COM M I MTV OF DliLAWARE 



21 



were armed with guns. The only hows available now are the 
small ones, 2 J to 3 ft. long, made of while cedar or oak — plain 
staves sometimes scjuared in section (fig. 13). The arrows, 17 in. 
long, are more interesting because they exhibit features that resem- 
ble those of the arrows of the Southeastern tribes. Here, A 
for instance, a cone of tin forms the head (fig. 14), for 
shooting small creatures and even fish. 

A common device for trapping rabbits and opossums 
is a box-trap made of a hollowed gum-log. From a 
single hollow log, eight or nine sections may be cut off 
to make as many traps. The back is closed with a 
piece of board, the front opening is provided with a 
drop door, as shown in the illustration (fig. 15), and a 
trigger attachment with dropping apparatus. An ordi- 
nary box is of :en used, but it is interesting to note that 
in the Nanticoke device there arc found some features 
which differ from those of the common rabbit box-trap 
of the country boy. Some of these may be traced to 
local Indian origin. 

Several choking or spring snares (fig. 16) are also 
interesting. The illustrations show all needed details. 
A slip-noose is attached to a bent sapling or pole. In ii<-. m — 

, . . , 111 I • , ,1 .\rro\vhead. 

one variety the trigger-stick, attached by the middle to 
the string, is caught vertically in the crotch of a stick driven into 
the ground, where it is held by the bait-stick. In the other, the 
trigger holds in the notches by the pull of the strini;, the moving 
of the bait-stick freeing it from the notch. In both of them the 
loop is commonly supported upon three or four small forks, so that 
it rests in front of the bait, just beneath where the animal's head 
comes. 

Other Industries 
basketry 

The basket-making of the Nanticoke is the survi\al of an old 
art, the methods and materials, as well as some of the present-day 
types, representing the more utilitarian side of the original industry. 



22 



MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN 



The Nanticoke nowadays make only the plain splint baskets for 
household and farm use, in a variety of sizes but of only one style. 
These are of the common, circular-bottomed twill (over-one- 
under-one) weave, and range in capacity from about a quart 
to approximately a bushel. In the matter of the rims, the 
baskets show an interesting and significant peculiarity which will 
be figured later, though in all other respects their baskets would 
pass without comment in any of the Eastern Atlantic Algonkin 
tribes. 




Fk;. 15. — Gum-log rabbit trap. 



The materials used are yellow pine {Pinns echinata) and white 
oak {Quercus alba). The trees are felled, and the splints loosened 
at one end of the log and pulled off by sheer strength without pre- 
vious pounding or other preparation. With a knife the splints 
are next smoothed and thinned to the desired proportions, when 
all is ready for the weaving. 

The bottoms are of two kinds, round and rectangular. In the 
former, the weaver begins with from twelve to sixteen standards, 
arranging them like the spokes of a wheel and weaving the splint 
filling spirally over-one-undcr-one; this is continued up the sides 



CONTR. MU8. AMtn. INOrAM 



VOL. II, NO. 4, PL. XII 





SCENES ON INDIAN H'JLH. DLLAWARE. SHOWING UPPER NET-HEELS AND . LOWER . SEVERAL 

ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES 



SPECK— NANTICOKE COMMUNITY OF DELAWARE 



23 



to tin- rim. In baskets with rcctanj2;ular bottoms, the pattern is 
of the common checkenvork type, the sides being as in the pre- 
ceding. 

In practically all respects there is nothing unusual in the baskets 
with the exception of the rim, where a local distinction appears. 
The wall of the basket beini^ finished, every alternate standard is 




Fk;. 16. — Spring snare. 

bent down and the other cut off. Inside and outside of this is a 
smoothed hoop, flattened on the inner face and rounded on the 
outer. Above and between these hoops is another, rounded, and 
the three are bound by a splint wrapping that passes continuously 
round the upper hoop and at ever>' fifth or sixth turn comes down 



24 



MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN 



and encircles the inside and outside hoops. This feature is shown 
in figure i8. I have not seen anything like it, except in Malay 
basket rims and in some specimens from the Congo. Practically 
all the Nanticoke baskets have it. 




Fig. 17. — Spring snare. 



Generally speaking, the baskets are of two sizes. The larger 
ones (pi. xx) are either for vegetables or for fish, and range from 
8 to 16 in. in height and from 12 to 20 in. in width. The smaller 
specimens (pi. xix ) are provided with bales and are used for 



COMTR. Mua. AMCn. INDIAN 



VOL. II. NO. 4, PL. Xlir 






SCENES ON INDIAN RIVEH. UtLAWAMfc 



SPECK— NANTICOKE COMMUNITY OF DELAWARE 



25 



carrying or storing small articles, eggs, fancy-work, tools, etc. They 
average 11 to 12 in. high and 7 in. wide. Occasionally some attempt 
at decoration is made by dyeing one or two woof splints a dark 
color with pokeberry or other native dye. 

Until a few years ago baskets woven of rushes were known. 




Fig. 18. — Detail of basket rim. 

A rather interesting though degenerated fancy basket, obtained 
from one of the women of this community and said to be of a kind 
more common in times past, is constructed of corn-husks. Lengths 
of these have been braided and coiled spirally to form bottom and 
sides, the attachment sewn being of cotton. Around the sides 
are sewn loops of corn-husk to give an ornamental effect, a braided 
husk handle completing the receptacle. It is about 6 in. wide and 
3 in. high (pi. xix). 

DYES 

The following substances are used for coloring basket materials: 

Poplar bark, boiled, gives a dark-brown color. 

Crushed chokecherries give a black or blue color. 

Pokeberry juice gives a pink color. 

Wild indigo plant gives a dark-blue color. 

Red-oak bark, boiled, produces a light-brown color. 

Walnut hulls are boiled to produce a brownish dye. 

Myrtle berries give various shades of purple, red, and dark brown. 



26 



MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN 



MISCELLANEOUS 

Gourds are commonly raised among the Nanticoke, the bodies 
being used for drinking vessels or as receptacles for such things as 
seeds, salt, household odds-and-ends, work materials, and, in former 
times, food. Some examples are illustrated in figure 19. By cutting 
off the necks, different depths and shapes are obtained. Sometimes 
the rims were scalloped for ornament. Gourds in appearance 





b'lc. 19. — Gourd receptacles. 

show a close resemblance to pottery, which they are said to have 
supplemented in use. Small gourds, with an aperture in one side, 
are commonly hung in trees as nesting places for bluebirds, martins, 
and wrens. Children use small gourds dried with the seeds inside for 
rattles. 

Dug-out canoes have been obsolete for almost fifty years. Mr 
Clark says that those he remembers were pointed at both ends, 
were made of pine, and were about 18 ft. in length. He states, as 
might be expected, that they were made by alternately adzing and 
charring the log. The canoe was poled, and paddled with a long 
paddle said to have been similar to the kind used with boats 
today (fig. 12). Canoes are called " pirogues." 

An interesting method of hanging meat, especially salted pork, 
is without exception employed by all these people. In the meat- 
house of every farm are cross-poles supporting hams and other meat. 
The feature of note, however, is that the meat is always hung by a 



COMTR, Mua. AMIR. tNOIAN 



VOL. II. NO. 4, PL. XIV 




1 








NANTICOKE HOMESTEAD, A.ND CORN MORTAKb IN USE 



SPECK— N ANT ICOKE COMMUNITY OF DELAWARE 2/ 

withe of Adam's needle, or yucca, not by rope or cord. The use 
of these fibers is evidently a survival of an aboriginal practice. 

Local Customs 
the turkey shoot 

The only Indian custom surviving in the community today for 
which we can find a parallel in the historical accounts of the region, 
is one known as the Turkey Shoot, or "Shooting Match." In 
autumn, generally in November, it is customary among the Nanti- 
coke to hold gatherings at different farms where the women 
sew and gossip and prepare something to eat, while the men, 
armed with shotguns, repair to a spot in the field near the house. 
There a piece of stick is inserted in the ground and a line drawn 
about one hundred paces away. The man at whose home the 
shoot has been assembled provides discs of paper upon which any 
of the marksmen may have their initials written by paying a fee 
of five cents, which entitles him to a shot at the paper. Then a 
certain chicken or a turkey is indicated as the one to be shot for, 
those who wish to purchase a shot make payment and receive their 
slips, and then each takes a shot at his own slip which, at his turn, 
is fastened to the stick. The man who has made the best shot, 
as indicated by his slip, wins the bird. Years ago it was the custom 
to try to shoot the head off the bird. These "shoots" are very much 
in favor in the community, serving as social gatherings for families 
living far apart. The ancient Nanticoke sport is thus described by 
Campanius: "The sachem causes a turkey to be hung up in the 
air, of which the bowels being taken out and the belly filled wich 
money, he who shoots the bird down gets the money that is with- 
in it." ^ 

WEDDING SERENADE 

Among other rural customs in the community the Wedding 
Serenade is well known. On the night of a marriage a crowd of 
men and boys gather at the house of the wedding and serenade the 
bridal pair with singing, and an improvised orchestra of cow-bells, 

1 Francis Vincent, A History of the Slate of Delaware, vol. i, p. 71 (quoting Cam- 
panius, p. 128), Piiila., 1870. 



28 MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN 

horns, and the Hke. If the groom does not invite them in and 
treat them to food, they ride him round the house on a fence-rail. 

GAMES 

Besides the ordinary country games of white children, the 
Nanticoke play some group games which may have an element or 
two of individuality. One is "Bear-in-the-ring" (see pi. xx). 
Within a circle of boys holding hands stands another boy who is 
the "bear." His object is to break through the ring and escape. 
Should he succeed, the one to catch him has the privilege of being 
the "bear" next time. Another game is "Toad-in-the-meadow." 

Cat's-cradles are generally well-known among these people. 
The figure known among the Southern Indians as "crowfoot" 
is common here also as "crow's feet." Another is Job's Coffin 
and is regarded as symbolic of the constellation of that name. 
String-figures in general among the Nanticoke, it is interesting to 
note, are regarded as representations of star groups. 

Folklore 
medicine practices 

The following amulets and herb cures were learned of among 
these people. Knowledge of them seems to be quite generally 
distributed among both sexes; the idea prevails, however, that 
there are some people who are more gifted in their ministrations 
than others. For instance, there are those who have the gift of 
removing sickness by their will. The seventh son or daughter is 
thought to possess some such magic power and the knowledge of 
useful medicines.^ Then others there are who have the power to 
cast "spells" on people. 

A string or necklace of deerskin will prevent the wearer from 
getting whooping-cough. 

A necklace of kernels from an ear of red corn will protect the 
wearer from nose-bleed. (See pi. xvii.) 

A dried spider wrapped in cloth and put in a thimble worn 
round the neck will also prevent nose-bleed. 

'A belief almost universal among the Eastern Indians as well as among the 
whites. 



COMTN. MU8. AMCn. INDIAN 



VOL. II. NO. 4. PL. XV 




NANTICOKE CORN-CRIBS 




FINER BASKETS C' 



SPECK— NANTICOKE COMMUNITY OF DELAWARE 29 

For curing a lame person, secure a worm, put it in a bottle, 
and hang the bottle up until the worm decays, then rub the matter 
upon the lame limbs. 

To prevent fevers during summer, it is said, chew the petals 
of the first hepatica flower which you see in the spring. The 
hepatica plant {Hepatica triloba) is called " chills-and-fever plant." 

Horsemint {Cimila origanoides) is brewed for colds. 

Calamus root, " muskrat root " ^ {Acorns calamus) is used for 
colic and for babies with colds. A tea is usually made. Or a piece 
of root may be carried about to be chewed. Mothers chew it and 
blow into infants' mouths to stop pain or to sooth them to sleep. 

Mullein {Verhasciim thapsus) leaves make an excellent poultice 
for fevers. Roll them out, dip them in vinegar, wring them out 
and bind them to the back of the neck, forehead, wrists, and soles 
of the feet. Keep wet with vinegar. 

Wild indigo plant {Baptisia tinctoria) and poplar {Populus 
deltoidea) brewed together make a good lotion for sprains. 

Pellets of pine tar {Pinus echinata) make a fine cathartic and 
are good for lame back. 

An eel-skin is worn around parts affected with rheumatism. 

Certain persons having the power can charm away warts by 
their spittle. 

Chills likewise can be "promised"^ away by a healer or witch. 

Cuts are healed by covering them with cobwebs. In such a 
case a silver dollar is also bound over the cut. Soot likewise is 
used to heal cuts. 

Blow tobacco smoke in the sufferer's ear to relieve earache.^ 

For a pain in the stomach, blow tobacco smoke in a cup of water 
and drink it. 

Tobacco smoke blown in the baby's mouth will relieve its pain. 

Prickly-pear {Opuntia opuntia) rubbed on warts will remove 
them. Inflammation may also be drawn from stings or bites by 
applying a split prickly-pear joint. 

' Incidentally similar to the Wabanaki name. 

2 Made to leave by promising the subject that they will go. 

' Also a Malecite remedy, and known to the Mohegan. 



30 MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN 

For chicken-pox, place the afflicted child in front of a chicken- 
house door and let the chickens fly out over him. 

For sore throat, place the bent thumb in the patient's mouth 
and press his jaws as far apart as possible for five minutes. 

For nose-bleed, place a cobweb up the nostril. Also drop a 
bunch of brass keys down the back. 

A tea brewed of skunk cabbage leaves (Spathyema foetida) will 
cure a cold. 

To cure chills, take a stick and cut as many notches in it as 
you have had chills. Then go to the stream that flows to the east 
throughout its course, throw the stick into the water over the left 
shoulder, and walk away. The chills will leave in a day or two. 

To cure warts: Pick up a stone at a cross-roads and rub on the 
wart as you walk along. Throw it over your left shoulder and 
walk straight to your destination without once looking back. The 
wart will disappear in three or four days. 

To cure backache: Wear the skin of a blacksnake round the 
waist. The snake-skin must be removed whole from the living 
snake. (One old man is said to have obtained a fresh skin every 
spring and to have worn one of these constantly.) 

A woman who marries but does not change her name (marries 
a man of the same name) can steal bread from her neighbors and 
give it to children to cure whooping-cough. She may even ask a 
friend to leave some bread where she can take it without being 
seen. A variant of this says that it is the bread stolen from a 
woman who does not change her name that will effect the cure. 

For whooping-cough, take as many roaches as there are children 
afflicted and name each after one of them. Then each child puts 
the roach named after him into a bottle and corks it tightly. When 
the roach dies the disease will leave the child. But be sure that the 
patient's bowels are kept open or the charm may react and kill him. 

The following verse of Scripture will cure nose-bleed; but it 
can be told to or said over only a person of the opposite sex. (Eze- 
kiel, i6:6.) "When I passed by thee I saw thee polluted in thy 
blood and I said unto thee Live! and thou didst live in thy blood: 
yea thou didst live in thine own blood." 



CONTR. MUS. AMER. INDIAN 



VOL. II, NO. 4, PL. XVI 




LARGE FLAT BASKET 




NANTICOKE CORN MORTAR AND "SHELLING MORTAR" IN USE 



SPECK— N ANT ICOKE COMMUNITY OF DELAWARE 3 I 

Cure for croup: Stand the child against the door-jamb and 
mark its height. When the child outgrows the mark it will be cured. 

Cure for frost bite: Bind an animal's bladder on the affected 
part. 

Several plants have local folk names, although no particular 
efficacy is ascribed to them. Milkweed {Asclepias tuberosa) is 
called "frog's milk." Wild gooseberries (Grossulariasp.) are called 
"Devil's berry" because when they ripen one at a time and fall off 
during the night, they say that the Devil picks them off. 

Sassafras (Sassafras sassafras), pronounced locally as " sarsa- 
fack," is made into a tea and drunk in spring to ward off fever and 
ague, and to cool the blood. It is thought that fever and ague are 
brought on by going barefoot or swimming in the river too early 
in the spring. The ailment is very common in this region. 

The leaves of a plant called "fish weed" are chewed for worm 
troubles. Snake-root {AristolocJiia serpentaria) is steeped and given 
for the same ailment.^ 

Pipsissewa (Chimaphila maculata) is steeped and drunk by the 
cupful to cure ague. 

The leaves and stems of a plant called " King Cole oil weed" are 
good for poultices. 

Balsam plant (Impatiens biflora) is steeped and made into a 
poultice for burns. 

Burdock (Arctium minus). Leaves steeped and applied to boils. 

Arrowroot (Peltandra virginica) is grated and fed to babies. It 
resembles corn-starch when mixed with milk. 

Pennyroyal (Hedeoma pulegioides) and Tansy (Tanacetum vul- 
gare) are both used as sudorifics. Pennyroyal is also considered an 
excellent kidney and liver medicine. 

Myrtle (Leiophyllum buxifolium) berries are made into wine and 
tonic. 

Wild Thyme (Thymus serpyllum) and Boneset (Eupatorium 
perfoliatum) steeped together are drunk for chills and fever. 

For convenience of reference the Nanticoke-Moor remedial 
plants are presented in the following form, local names being marked 
with an asterisk. 



1 Snakeroot is also a Penobscot and Mohegan remedy. 



32 



MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN 



Hepatica {Hepatica triloba) 
Horscniint {Ciinila origanoides) 
Calamus {Acorns calamus) 
Mullein {Verhascum thapsus) 
Wild Indigo {Baptisia linctoria) 
Poplar (Popjihis deltoidea) 
Pine (tar) (Finns echinata) 
Prickly-pear (Opuntia opunlia) 
Skunk Cabbage {Spathyema foetid a) 
Sassafras (Sassafras sassafras) 
Milk- weed (Asclepias tuberosa) 
Wild Gooseberry (Grossidaria sp.) 

*Fish Weed (sp. ?) 
Pipsissewa (Chimaphila macidata) 

*King Cole Oil Weed (?) 
Balsam Plant (Impatiens biflora) 
Snakeroot (Aristolochia serpentaria) 
Burdock (Arctium minus) 
Arrowroot (Peltandra virginica) 

Pennyroyal (Hedeoma pulegioides) 

Tansy (Tanacetum vidgare) 
Myrtle (Leiophyllum buxifolium) 
Thyme (Thymus serpyllum) 
Bonesct (Eupatorium perfoliatum 



Fever and chills 

Colds 

Colic 

Poultices 

Sprains 

Cathartic 

Cure warts, frost bite 

Colds 

Fever and ague 

"Frog's milk" 

" Devil's berry " 

Cure worms 
Ague 
Poultices 

Poultice for burns 
Cure worms 
Boils. 
Baby food 
Kidney, liver 
sudorific 

Tonic wine 
Fever and chills 



WEATHER SIGNS 

Killdeer plovers (" kildee ") flocking and calling in the morning 
when it is calm are a sign of coming wind. 

Killdeer plovers as well as some other birds are thought to speak 
certain words. The killdeer says, "Wind blow, wind blow!" 
This is another sure sign of the coming of wind. 

The flight of wild geese is also regarded as a sign of wind ap- 
proaching. 

If the chickens stay out in the rain and continue feeding you 
may expect it to rain for a long time. They know that it is going 




^ < 




SPECK— N ANT ICOKE COMMUNITY OF DELAWARE 33 

to rain and want to get something to eat before they go to shelter. 
If they run for shelter when it begins to rain, the rain will not last 
very long. They know they can feed later on, so do not stay out 
in it. 

When you hear the surf (the ocean is nine or ten miles to the 
eastward) you may expect rain the following day. (This denotes 
an east wind.) 

When crows or blackbirds flock in a field it is going to rain. 

When hogs become restless, grunt, and pick up sticks, cobs, 
etc., as though they are going to make a nest or a bed, a storm is 
coming. 

When it rains and the sun is shining it will rain again the next 
day. 

Where the ends of the Milky Way appear to rest on the horizon 
is the direction from which the wind will blow the next day.^ 

The sun-dog is a sure sign of a coming storm. 

If you kill a snake and throw it into a tree, it is a sign that it 
will rain the next day if the carcass hangs in the branches, but if it 
falls through the branches the next day will be clear. 

MISCELLANEOUS SIGNS, OMENS, AND BELIEFS 

If you mock a mourning dove, some time he will burn you.^ 

The cooing of the turtle-dove indicates the direction where your 
lover is.^ 

The whippoorwill's first cry in spring is the sign that it is time 
to plant corn. 

A black animal seen crossing one's path at the beginning of 
any venture is a sign of bad luck. Turn back and choose another 
time." 

A falling star is the sign of disappointment. 

When the new moon is first seen, take out your pocketbook 
and shake it toward the moon for good luck. 

1 Known among the Indians as far as the Montagnais of Labrador. 

2 Resembles the Wabanaki belief about mocking the screech owl. 
' Known among the Muskogians and Yuchi. 

* Resembles an Ojibway and Wabanaki belief. 



34 MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN 

The Jack-o'-my-lantern is thought to be a kind of spirit which 
is Hkely to follow people and cause misfortune. To prevent this, 
people turn their pockets inside out when they see one. An in- 
formant claims to have seen a number issuing one night from the 
stump of a dead tree. 

Ringing in the ears is known as "death bells" and announces 
the death of some friend or relative. 

On New Year's day it is the custom for men to go visiting, the 
first to come to the house receiving fifty cents. But for a woman 
to come to a house on this day is an ill omen. 

Like storks in Europe, fish-hawks {Pandion halecetiis carolinensis) 
are venerated by the Nanticoke. It is a sin to kill them or to 
disturb their nests. The fish-hawks respond by building their nests 
near habitations, generally in open fields among the limbs of a 
dead tree, sometimes as low as fifteen feet from the ground, and 
returning to them year after year. These huge nests are fairly 
common and become the abode of many small birds as well. (See 

pi. XVII.) 

Buzzards also are never molested. 

If a scorpion lizard (locally "scorpion," Sceloporus undulatus) 
gets on a person and manages to run completely round the body, 
the person will die. 

To win the girl with whom you are in love: Cork an empty bottle 
and take it to a stream that flows to the east through its entire 
course. Tie a string round the neck of the bottle and fasten the 
other end to a limb or a bush overhanging the stream. Then put 
the bottle on the water so that the stream pulls it along until the 
string becomes taut. Draw with a stick in the sand a picture of 
the girl. Anything will do provided it be your best and your 
mind is intent upon it so that you really mean it to represent her 
the best you can. Then go away and leave it. As the string holds 
the bottle so she will cling to you. But if the string breaks, then 
she will break away from you. 

To win the one with whom you are in love: Go to a well at noon 
on the first of May and hold a mirror so as to get the reflection of 
the water below. In the mirror you will see the image of the girl 



^^^^^i*^ 










^■'' 


1 


f 


V ^ 


1 i 



SPECK— NASTICOKE COMMUMTY OF DELAWARE 35 

or the boy you are going to marry. If you are not to marry at all 
you will sec a coffin. 

Two of the same sex are required in pcrforniinj; tliL- following 
love charm: Boil an ii;}; hard and let it stay in the water a day. 
Then each breaks it, takes out the yolk, and fills with salt the space 
left by its removal. Eat the white of the egg and the salt without 
water and without saying a word. Walk out of the room back- 
ward, go upstairs backward, and get in bed backward. In a 
dream the girl or the boy you are to marr>' will come and bring 
you a drink of water. During all this time and until morning of 
the following day not a word must be spoken. 

The Midnight Supper: Only two persons of the same sex can 
perform this charm. At midnight, with the lights turned very dim, 
two people of the same sex sit at the opposite ends of a table and 
eat ash-cake [see page 14]. If you are going to marry, the form of 
the person you will wed will appear to come to the door and walk 
straight across the room. If you are not to be married, a coffin 
will come and rest alongside of you. 

To cause a person s death: Get a piece of his hair and bore a 
hole into a pine tree when the sap is down ; that is, before March 20. 
(Any time between September 20 and March 20 will do. The sap 
begins to run up about March 20.) Put the hair in the hole and 
plug it up. The sap will come up and the person whose hair has 
been placed there will die within a year. 

If a hen crows it is a sign of bad luck and it should be killed. 

A rooster crowing at the door denotes a visitor. 

When a turtle dove is heard mourning, sit down and take off 
your shoe, and you will find a hair in it the color of your future 
wife's hair. 

The small eggs often laid by hens are called " latter eggs." 
They denote that the hen is through laying for the season. 

To hand a person a closed knife will bring bad luck. The knife 
should be opened. 

When a child's umbilical cord is severed, it should be disposed 
of by burning, lest it bring bad luck.' 

' Incidentally similar to Penobscot. 



36 MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN 

Reptile Lore. — The red-headed skink {Eumeces) is called "woods 
bitch" and is thought to be poisonous. The male fence lizard 
{Sceloporiis midnlatus) is called "scorpion" and is thought to be 
poisonous because it has a blue throat, while the female, which has 
no blue on the throat, is called "lizard" and is not considered 
poisonous. Children capture these lizards by means of a noose of 
long, tough grass, called "lizard grass," and play with them as 
though they were little horses. They say that the lizard is not 
afraid of "lizard grass" and will permit himself to be noosed with it. 
Salamanders are all considered to be full of venom and are thought 
frequently to cause the death of hogs who have eaten them in the 
woods. Cats are also said to eat lizards in the spring and to be- 
come very thin as a result; they are then given a quantity of fat to 
eat, which causes them to get relief from the poison. The water 
snake {Tropidonotus) , the hog-nosed snake {Heterodon), known 
locally as the "bastard hornet snake" {bastard, "not real"; hornet, 
"horned": "false horned snake," in the local dialect), the "field 
wiper" (field viper), a general name for field snakes, are all errone- 
ously considered venomous. The black racer {Bascanion) is the 
only snake known correctly to be harmless. 

Local snake-lore asserts that the "field wiper" bites itself and 
dies of its own poison; that the copperhead emits a smell like 
cucumbers; that a blacksnake-skin worn round the waist will cure 
rheumatism ; that there exists a hoop snake which can take its tail 
in its mouth and roll like a hoop; that the blacksnake can suck a 
cow's udder; that if a dead blacksnake is hung upon a tree it will 
rain soon, perhaps "before you get home"; that the first thunder 
in spring awakens the snakes from their winter sleep, and that when 
a snake is killed its mate comes to seek the remains. 

Archeology and Local Tradition 
In Indian River Hundred, which lies on the northern shore of 
Indian river, the Nanticoke point out a number of archeological 
sites of which they have knowledge from their old people. From 
Millsboro eastward, following the shore, are almost continuous ves- 
tiges of camp-sites which lie up on the sandy banks of the river. At 



rottTR Mu"t »«rn tNn'»N 



VOL. II, NO. •«. PL. XIX 




NANTICOKE EEL-POTS 
(the specimen at the left is made of white oak, the other of pine) 




NANTICOKE HAND BASKETS AND CORNHUSK BASKET 



SPECK— NANTICOKE COMMUNITY OF DELAWARE 3/ 

Millsboro are pointed out the remains of pits in the sandy hillside 
just above the ponds at the edge of the village. These pits are 
said to have been "wigwam pits." Without discussing this claim, 
one finds the village-sites nearer to the Indian settlement about six 
miles from Millsboro, close to a spot known locally as "Puddle 
Hole," much more interesting. Here quantities of arrowheads, 
hammerstones, lanceheads, knives, steatite objects, and quantities 
of a fine, stamped, pottery -ware are found upon the sandy surface 
of the soil. From this spot, beginning a few hundred yards and 
extending a mile or so eastward are remains of several shell- 
heaps, the shells widely scattered over the surface, though not 
extending to any depth. These shell deposits, always near the 
bank, are of the shallowest sort, the soil being visible among the shells 
even where the latter are most abundant. Occasional artifacts are 
found in the midst of these spaces. The Indians say that the 
ancient people came to these places to have their oyster feasts. 
The bank has been washed away very much by the action of the 
river. In the memory of Mr Clark, one point in particular, where 
his grandmother's house stood, has been washed back more than 
fifty feet. Probably the camp-sites along the shore have suffered 
much from this cause. 

Another more interesting site is a low mound situated about a 
mile and a half from the river, immediately bordering the road 
which leads to Georgetown, Delaware, fourteen miles away. This 
mound I estimated to be about 15 feet high and 40 paces in 
diameter. It is composed entirely of sand and is fairly discernible, 
though Mr Clark says that in his lifetime and that of his father it 
has worn down at least five feet. The mound now has upon it a 
growth of sturdy yellow pines. Mr Clark says that his father 
learned from the elders of the community, many years ago, that the 
mound was a repository for the dead in the days of the Indians. 
We might presume that this mound was the site of one of the 
mortuary houses of the Nanticoke. In excavating a pit near the 
center of the mound with Mr Clark, we came upon fragments of 
very old red brick and green-glass bottles which are said to have 
been sold with rum to the Indians by the early traders. 



38 museum of the american indian 

Tales 
For a rather large community there seems to be a dearth of 
tales having any local distinctiveness or dealing with the animal 
kingdom. The few rather colorless stories which repeated inquiry 
brought out are the following, some of which are widespread among 
both whites and negroes. 

RABBIT AND FOX RAISE A CROP 

One time a Rabbit and a Fox made arrangements to become 
partners in raising a crop. They got a piece of ground and set out 
to raise turnips. The Fox said he would take all that was above the 
ground for his share of the crop, and the Rabbit could have what 
was underneath the ground for his. So that year the Fox got only 
the turnip-tops, while the Rabbit got the turnips. Next year they 
entered into partnership again, and the Fox said that this time 
he would again have first choice. So he chose what grew beneath 
the ground for his share, and the Rabbit agreed to take what grew 
above. Then they planted their crop, and this time it was cabbage. 
When the crop was gathered, the Rabbit got all the best again 
and the Fox got nothing again. This is how he got fooled. 

ORIGIN OF DEAD WOOD 

One time Crane went down to the river to catch eels. When 
he got one, he swallowed it alive, but it came right through him 
and came out his other end. He caught the eel again, and he did 
the same, with the same result. And again. Then he backed up 
against a dead stump and swallowed him again, saying, "Now you 
devil, I've got the dead-wood on you." And the eel could not get 
through. That is the way, they say, dead wood first started. 

THE WREN OUTWITS THE EAGLE 

The Eagle was recognized as king of the birds, because he could 
fly higher than any others. But one time the little Wren said that 
he could go even higher than the Eagle. So they challenged him 
to prove it, and they began flying upward. Then the Wren perched 
himself upon the Eagle's back and stayed there until the Eagle 



COMTR. MUS. AMCn. INDIAN 



VOL. II. NO. *. PL. XX 




F ' HILDREN PLAYING "BEAR-I V-RING' 




NANTICOKE FISH AND CORN BASKETS 



SPECK— NANTICOKE COMMUNITY OF DELAWARE 39 

had flown as high as he was able. When they came down again the 
Wren declared that he had been higher than the Eagle, for as high 
as the eagle had gone, he had all the time been above him. 

THE WONDERFUL HUNTER 

There was once an old man and his wife who lived alone in the 
woods. One time they were all out of provisions, and he had only 
one bullet and one charge of powder for his gun. So he went 
hunting to see what luck he would have. Pretty soon, as he was 
going along, he saw a deer on his right. At his left, all in line upon the 
branch of a tree, he saw seven wild turkeys. At the same time 
he espied a rabbit directly in front of him, and a covey of quail 
behind him. So he took aim and shot his one bullet into the 
branch upon which the turkeys were sitting, splitting it, so that 
when it sprang together the seven turkeys were caught by the 
toes. At the same time the gun exploded, the barrel went back- 
ward, striking and killing the deer, the stock flew forward killing 
the rabbit, while the burst of the thing blew his coat off his back 
over the flock of quail. Now he had so much game that he didn't 
know what to do, so he hurried home to get something to carry it in. 
On the way home he jumped through the branch (stream) and 
caught his breeches full of perch. That is a hunter's story. 

A TERRAPIN FOR A WATCH^ 

There was once an old fellow who met another going along the 
road. In those times they told the time of day by the sun. The 
old man asked the other about the time, and the other pulled a 
watch out of his pocket and told him, "Half past ten." The old 
man had never seen a watch before and thought it was a wonder. 
Pretty soon, as he went along, he found a terrapin. He thought 
it looked like the other's watch, so took it along with him, putting 
it in his shirt. After going a little way he met a woman, who 
asked him about the time. "Half past twelve and scratching like 
Hell!" he cried as he jerked the terrapin from his shirt. 

1 A version of the same tale is current among the Creek Indians, among whom 
I obtained it in text in Oklahoma. 



40 MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN 

THE THREE QUESTIONS 

There were once two Irish "terriers" who were brothers. 
One of them was offered a job by a wealthy man who promised 
him his pay if he would answer three questions that he would put 
to him. The Irishman accepted and agreed to come next day to 
hear the questions. When he went home and told his brother 
about it, his brother desired to go in his place. The next day, 
accordingly, the brother went in the other's place, and the man 
asked him, "How much does the moon weigh?" "One hundred 
pounds," answered the Irishman. "How do you know?" asked 
the man. " Because it has four cjuarters," was the answer. "Very 
well then, how many stars are there?" "A million. If you do 
not believe it, count them!" For the third question the man 
asked, "What am I thinking of?" "You think I am Pat, but I'm 
not, I'm Mike," was the reply. Having answered the three 
questions, Mike secured the job for Pat. 

The Local Dialect of English 

Since, at the instance of Dr Boas, studies of folk-communities 
in various parts of America are beginning to be considered of 
importance to ethnology, I shall append a list of vernacular terms 
in use among these people. There are, of course, many more idio- 
matic forms of speech than I could record. The dialect in general 
has so many local peculiarities that people from other parts of the 
Middle States often find it difficult at first to comprehend. The 
white people of Sussex county, moreover, do not have the same 
idiosyncrasies, as I have taken pains to observe, although those 
born in the immediate neighborhood of the Nanticoke-Moors do. 

Phonetic Peculiarities^ 

Among the consonants r is pronounced with the tongue tip 
well curved but with no trill. Final consonants have a tendency 
to be dropped, as mort, "mortar," orga, "organ." 

English ordinary i (ai) and a before r are given the quality of 

1 The characters recommended for American ethnologists by the Committee on 
Phonetics of the American Anthropological Association are used here. 



COMTN. MU8. AWCR. IM0I«N 



VOL. II. HO. 4. PL. XXI 




NANTICOKE COFFEE MORTARS 




NANTICOKE CORN MORTARS 



SPECK— NANTICOKE COMMUNITY OF DELAWARE 



41 



9, a close vowel almost like a mfall; for example are is o'r, sparrow 
is spyr, fire is f o'r. The impure vowel ea(r), as in heard, perch, 
and peart, is pronounced i'r {i', long, as ee in English queen), whence, 
pi'rtc "perch," pi'rt "peart," hi'rd "heard." Final a{h) is often 
pronounced as e; Noah as "noe." Also -ere ("there, where") is 
pronounced -ar ("whar," etc.). 

In vocabulary we observe the following local usages: 



mullet 
mirkel 
sarsafak 
yu'po'n 

tit spo'r 

branch 

puddle hole 

savannah 

pound 

ganzer 

snouterbilly 

darts 

pirogue 

booby owl 

saddy 

hit 

foreparents 

meetin' 

shets 

nigh 

yon 

hundred 

fat lighter 

fat wood 



NOUNS AND PRONOUNS 

mullein plant 

myrtle tree 

sassafras 

wintergreen berry. (The yupon in the South 

is the name of Ilex cassine.) 
"tit sparrow," any small sparrow — English, 

chipping or song sparrow, 
a stream 
a pond 

a swamp in the woods 
the farmyard enclosure 
a woolen sweater 

cap that pulls down over the ears, 
arrowheads 
a dugout canoe 
barred owl 
thank you 
it 

forefathers 
church 

pine needles (probably for " sheds ") 
this one, here 
that one, there 
a settlement 

resinous pine spHnts for starting a fire. 



42 



MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN 



VERBS AND OTHER PARTS OF SPEECH 



to gear up {gar) 
to chunk 

to work on 
to over 
out of 

to get together 
tarry- 
stir 
kiwer 
peart (pi'rt) 
pleasurin' 
boat ridin' 
to handle 
studyin' 
right 

tolerable (tolebcd) 
make a light 
to reckon 
just like as if 
mashed 

to be fifteen out 
proggin (pro-'g-in) 

fusty 

gettin' them worked on 

slop the hogs 

rest your hat 

deviling' 

beatenest 

to see after 

figgerin' 



to tie, harness, lace 

to throw something, generally a piece of 

wood, at someone. 

to tease, torment, to insist on 

to get over, recover 

descended from, belonging to 

to prepare, to make 

to linger 

to hurry 

to cover 

to be in good health, lively 

to be enjoying oneself, to seek pleasure. 

to sail in a boat 

to manage 

worrying 

very {right cold, "very cold") 

quite 

to light 

to guess 

just as though 

bruised 

more than fifteen years of age 

to make a living on the river by fishing 

and canoeing 
fussy, fretful 

having work done on something 
feed slops to the hogs 
take off your hat (said to a caller) 
to tease 
worst 
to look after, provide for 



planning 

Several interesting phrases characterize the community: 
"Are you well?" (with a rising accent) is the common greeting 
between acquaintances. The phrase "on you," "on me," "on 



SPECK— NANTICOKE COMMUNITY OF DELAWARE 43 

Isaac" in one sense denote "on your land," "on my land," "on 
Isaac's land," respectively. 

Also "'mongst you" (amongst you) is used almost every time 
simply "yoti^' as the subject of a verb is intended, as "'Mongst 
you all done?" "Are you all done?" "'Mongs' you comin'?" 
"Are you all coming?" " 'Mongs' you got a dog (dog)?" "Have 
you a dog?" 

Appendix 

In a letter to the writer, Dr Amandus Johnson, of the Univer- 
sity of Pennsylvania, who has investigated extensively the history 
of the Swedes in Delaware, says: "A statement in Beskrifning om 
de svenska forsamlingars forna och ndrvarande tillstand, by Acrelius 
[p. 308], may possibly add to the probability of the ' Moor tradi- 
tion.' Acrelius says that in 1745 ' Spanish privateers tried to make 
a landing in the Delaware.'^ It is quite likely that one of these 
vessels may have been wrecked on the Delaware coast at the time. 
I have seen a statement to this effect somewhere, but am unable to 
recall the source." Dr Johnson adds that the settlers at Fort 
Christiania (Wilmington) strengthened their fort at this time in 
anticipation of attack. 

1 On the beach at Lewestown, the old name for Lewes, Delaware, iron utensils of 
the colonial period are often found. These, the natives believe, are relics of the 
traditional shipwrecked crew. It is asserted that nearly all were saved at the time, 
and that they dwelt on the beach for awhile. 



LBO 



CONTRIBUTIONS 

FRONf 

THE MUSEUM OI THE AMERICAN INDIAN 
IIEYE FOUNDATION 



CONTENTS OF VOLUME I 

1. Lucayan Artifacts from the Bahamas. Theodoor de Booy. 

2. Precolumbian Decoration of the Teeth in Ecuador, with some Ac- 

count of the Occurrence of the Custom in Other Parts of North 
and South America. Marshall H. Saville. 

3. Certain Kitchen-middens in Jamaica. Theodoor de Booy. 

4. Porto Rican Elbow-Stones in the Heye Museum, with Discussion 

of Similar Objects Elsewhere. J. Walter Fewkes. 

5. Note on the A rcheology of Chiriqui. George Grant MacCurdy. 

6. Pelroglyphs of Saint Vincent, British West Indies. Thomas 

HUCKERBY. 

7. Prehistoric Objects from a Shell-heap at Erin Bay, Trinulad. 

J. Walter Fewkes. 

8. Relatiotis of Aboriginal Culture and Environment in the Lesser 

Antilles. J. Walter Fewkes. 

9. Pottery from Certain Caves in Eastern Santo Domingo, West 

Jtulies. Theodoor de Booy. 



.)» 



